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LOVE IN ALL AGES 

Songs and Fragments 
qf Days Old and New 




OVE in all ages ! Aye, it seems 

That all the laughing stars above 
Which line the highways of our dreams 
Were given light and life through love. 

Love in all ages ! Can we know 

When love was not? For Eden's dawn 

Was golden in love's olden glow 

From ages that were dead and gone. 



Love in all ages ! Hold, for now 

We put our finger on the truth. 

Love sets his chaplet on the brow 

And gives to us eternal youth ! 



LOVE 
IN ALL AGES 

Songs and. jragments 
oi Davs Old and New 




EHiired. by 
Lois Willoughty 3^it^ 




PuLKsKea by 

E F.\&lland 6 Company 

Chicago 



To 

THOSE WHO HAVE LOVED 
THOSE WHO WILL LOVE and 
THOSE WHO LOVE TO-DAY 






Copyright, 1910 

By P. F. Volland ^ Co. 

Chicago 



©Gl.A25(>i48 



PRELUDE 

Tj-OVE AND TIME were children to- 
-■^ gether. 

In a garden planted eastward in Eden, 
Adam dwelt by a sparkling river amidst the 
beauties of the trees. In this wondrous garden 
came the first yearning for love, and every 
descendant of the father of the human race 
has felt the same longing. 

Throughout the ages we find the story told 
over and over again. Through a haze these 
records of passion come down to us. The 
hieroglyphics of the Stone Age were as a 
sealed book until an ardent searcher noticed 
that one phrase appeared and re-appeared 
numberless times. At last, despairing of 
translating it scientifically, he followed his 
intuition and called it *'l LOVE YOU." 
Then to his amazement he discovered he had 
found the key. 

The years passed on and about 500 B. C. , the 
famous Greek poet, Anacreon, composed many 
poems on love, which he defined as an engross- 
ing amusement. A hundred years later Plato 
forsook his philosophy long enough to admit 
that "Each becomes a poet when Love touches 
him, though he was not musical before." 

Horace, the beloved, dwelling in peace at 
the sequestered Sabine farm, sang amorous 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 



songs. Happy hours spent with Horatian 
verse, however, convinces one that the Roman 
singer loved content and the simple joys of 
life far better than he loved Love. But who 
knows — he may have left some songs unsung. 

The old Persians have given us beautiful 
lyrics, redolent of the perfume of roses and 
violets, and though shrouded in mysticism, 
they breathe the warmth of the far East. 

The early English poets gave the subject 
much attention and their lines are full of 
charm and a certain pleasing recklessness. 

The Eighteenth Century brought us poems 
of sincerity and much dignity. Truly, these 
verses belong to the age of the stately gavotte. 

Modern poets, the poets of to-day, are writ- 
ing our own love songs — telling the old, 
sweet story in accents we understand. 

Since time began the songs of love have 
thrilled the world. From all countries and 
climes, from all nationalities and classes, they 
have come down to us, and they are ever the 
same. The universe is ruled by three short 
words, and the poet who yearns for everlast- 
ing fame need but to write in the universal 
language of all ages — the Language of Love, 

L. W. 



e 



Love in All Ages 

•iRi iSSb ri^ 

•^V^T to love is pain and woe, 
•■ •' And to love is pain also ; 
But to love unloved again 
Is a tenfold sharper pain. 

— Anacreon. 

ACH becomes a poet when Love touches him, though 

he was not musical before. ^, 

—Plato, 

LYDIA TO HORACE 

PAIRER than stars is he — 
More fickle thou than wind, 
Than the vext seas more rude and 

oft unkind ; 
But oh, my love, my love, I'd live, 
I'd die with thee! 

'TXRUE love, we know, is blind ; defects that 
^^ blight 

The loved one's charms, escape the lover's sight, 
Nay, pass for beauties. —Horace, 

7 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 



THE BLEST 

^\H, trebly blest, and blest forever, 
^^ Are they whom true affection binds. 
No cold distrust nor janglings sever 

The union of their constant minds, 
But life in blended current flows, 

Serene and sunny to the close ! 

— Horace, 

ON HIS LOVE 

GC WEET breeze ! her breath thy murmurs bear, 
r^ The perfume of her sigh is thine ; 
But dare not play amidst her hair, 

For every golden curl is mine ! 
O rose I what radiant hues hast thou. 

That in her face less brightly glow I 
Her love is joy without regret. 

While briars and thorns thy bloom beset. 



O my rapt soul ! if thou hadst power 

To choose all blessings earth can give. 
Is there a better, richer dower. 

Than for her tenderness to live ? 
Come, my sole love ! from those dear eyes 

Thy Hafiz is too long away ; 
Come, give his heart the sweet surprise. 

Though 'twere but for a single day ! 

— Hafiz. 



IN ALL AGES 



"^l^ry HO shall say where love begins, 

V\/ How its subtle way it wins ? 
Gods, who love the race they frame, 
Cannot tell whence springs the flame. 
Man may reason long and well, 
But can never break the spell. 

— Scheik Feiz'i. 

'jpIHE water-lily pale with care, 
^^ Mourns as the waters pass her by ; 
Alas," she sighs, " what woes I bear! 
And must submit to misery : 
But time can never teach my heart 

From Love's delusive joy to part ! " 

— Azz^ Eddin Elmocadessi. 
if!* i?4 

%^ il HAT are our deeds ? — all 

^-'^ worthless, all — 
Oh, bring Devotion's wine, 
That strength upon my soul may fall 
From drops Thou mad'st divine. 
The world's possessions fade and flee, 
The only good is — loving Thee ! 

— Hqfiz. 



•^LACE thyself, oh, lovely fair! 
-*^ Where a thousand mirrors are ; 
Though a thousand faces shine, 

'Tis but one — and that is thine. 

— Moasi. 



10 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



A TRIBUTE 

'T^^HE honey-dew thy charm might borrow, 
^-^ Thy lip alone to me is sweet ; 
When thou art absent, faint with sorrow 

I hide me in some lone retreat. 
Why talk to me of power or fame ? — 

What are those idle toys to me ? 
Why ask the praises of my name ? 

My joy, my triumph is in thee ! 

— Hqfiz, 



A CONFESSION 

•T^ME temple I frequent is high, 
^^ A turkis-vaulted dome — the sky, 
That spans the worlds with majesty. 
Not quite a Moslem is my creed, 
Nor quite a Giaour; my faith, indeed. 
May startle some who hear me say, 
I'd give my pilgrim's staff away. 
And sell my turban, for an hour 
Of music in a fair one's bower. 
I'd sell the rosary for wine, 
Though holy names around it twine. 
And prayers the pious make so long 
Are turned by me to joyous song ; 
Or, if a prayer I should repeat, 
It is at my beloved's feet. 

— Omar Khayyam. 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 11 



THE FAIREST LAND 

''"^^ELL me, gentle traveler, thou 
^-^ Who hast wandered far and wide. 
Seen the sweetest roses blow, 

And the brightest rivers glide ; 
Say, of all thine eyes have seen. 

Which the fairest land has been ? " 

*Lady, shall I tell thee where 

Nature seems most blest and fair, 

Far above all climes beside ? — 

'Tis where those we love abide : 

And that little spot is best 

Which the loved one's foot hath pressed. 

Though it be a fairy space. 

Wide and spreading is the place ; 

Though 'twere but a barren mound, 

'Twould become enchanted ground. 

**With thee yon sandy waste would seem 
The margin of Al Cawthar's stream; 
And thou canst make a dungeon's gloom 

A bower where new-born roses bloom." 

— Rumi, 



SLAVE AND SERVANT 

KNOW' ST thou why round his neck the dove 
A collar wears ? — it is to tell 
He is the faithful slave of love, 
And serves all those who serve him well. 

— Azz^ Eddin Elmocadessi. 



12 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



RUBAIYAT 

^Ll BOOK of Verses underneath the Bough, 
7"^ A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread — and Thou 
Beside me singing in the Wilderness — 

Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow I 

I sometimes think that never blows so red 

The Rose as where some buried Caesar bled ; 

That every Hyacinth the garden wears 

Dropt in her lap from some once lovely head. 



Ah Love ! Could you and I with Him conspire. 

To grasp this sorry Scheme of Things entire, 

Would not we shatter it to bits — and then 

Re-mould it nearer to the Heart's Desire ? 
-"— Omar Khayyam, 

THE VIOLET'S TEARS 

l:;rNOW'ST thou why the violet's eyes 
-*-♦* Gleam with dewy purple dyes ? 
'Tis that tears, for love untrue, 
Bathed the banks where first she grew. 

— Omar Khayyam. 

I a Paradise can own 
When I gaze on thee alone. 

— Moasi. 



IN ALL AGES 13 



CONSTANCY 

/"^QT uj)on it, I have lov'd 
^^ Three whole days together; 
And am like to love three more, 
If it prove fair weather. 

Time shall mould aw^ay his wings 

Ere he shall discover 
In the whole wide world again 

Such a constant lover. 

But the spite on't is, no praise 

Is due at all to me ; 
Love w-ith me had made no stays 

Had it any been but she. 

Had it any been but she, 

And that very face, 
There had been at least ere this 

A dozen dozen in her place. 

— Sir John Suckling. 



BELIEVE THEM NOT 

W/OVR shining eyes and golden hair, 
•^ Your lily-rosed lips most fair, 
Your other beauties that excel, 
Men cannot choose but like them well ; 
But when for them they say they'll die, 
Believe them not, they do but lie. 

—From "Bird's Collection of Songs. 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 



THE SHEPHERD'S RESOLUTION 

0HALL I, wasting in despair, 
Die because a woman's fair? 
Or my cheeks make pale with care, 
'Cause another's rosy are? 
Be she fairer than the day, 
Or the flowery meads in May, 
If she be not so to me. 
What care I how fair she be? 

Shall my foolish heart be pined 

'Cause I see a woman kind; 

Or a well-disposed nature 

Joined with a lovely feature? 

Be she meeker, kinder than 

Turtle-dove or pelican. 

If she be not so to me, 
What care I how kind she be? 



Great or good, or kind or fair, 
I will ne'er the more despair; 
If she love me, this believe, 
I will die ere she she shall grieve ; 
If she slight me when I woo, 
I can scorn and let her go ; 

For if she be not for me. 
What care I for whom she be? 



George Wither, 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 



LOVE'S WANTONNESS 

JyOVE guides the roses of thy lips, 
-*-< And flies about them like a bee ; 
If I approach he forward skips. 

And if I kiss he stingeth me. 

Love in thine eyes doth build his bower. 

And sleeps within their prettv shrine, 

And if I look the boy will lower, 

And from their orbs shoot shafts divine. 

Love works thy heart within his fire. 

And in my tears doth firm the same, 

And if I tempt it will retire, 

And of my plaints doth make a game. 

Love, let me cull her choicest flowers. 
And pity me, and calm her eye. 

Make soft her heart, dissolve her lowers. 
Then I will praise thy deity. 

— Thomas Lodge. 



15 



6 



GATHER THE ROSE 

JATHER therefore the rose, while yet is prime, 
l-or soon comes Age, that will her pride 
deflower ; 
Gather the rose of love, while yet is time. 

Whilst loving thou mayst loved be with equal 
^"^^- -^Spenser. 



18 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



MEDIOCRITY IN LOVE REJECTED 

GIVE me more love, or more disdain, 
The torrid or the frozen zone 
Bring equal ease unto my pain ; 

The temperate affords me none ; 
Either extreme of love or hate 

Is sweeter than a calm estate. 

Give me a storm; if it be love. 

Like Danae in a golden shower, 
I swim in pleasure ; if it prove 

Disdain, that torrent vnll devour 
My vulture hopes; and he's possessed 

Of heaven that's but from hell released. 
Then crown my joys, or cure my pain; 
Give me more love» or more disdain. 

— Thomas Carew. 

WHAT LOVE IS LIKE 

Tj^OVE is like a lamb, and love is like a lion ; 

-*^ Fly from love, he fights ; fight, then does he fly on 

Love is all on fire, and yet is ever freezing ; 

Love is much in winning, yet is more in leesing ; 

Love is ever sick, yet is never dying ; 

Love is ever true, and yet is ever lying; 

Love does doat in liking, and is mad in loathing ; 

Love indeed is anything, yet indeed is nothing. 

— Thomas Middleton. 



LOVE IN ALL AGE S 17 



TO GIVE MY LOVE GOOD-MORROW 

*#J ACK, clouds, away, and welcome day, 
^^ With night we banish sorrow ; 
Sweet air blow soft, mount larks aloft 

To give my Love good-morrow ! 
Wings from the wind to please her mind 

Notes from the lark I'll borrow; 
Bird prune thy wing, nightingale sing, 

To give my Love good-morrow ; 
To give my Love good-morrow 
Notes from them both I'll borrow. 

Wake from thy nest, Robin red-breast. 

Sing birds in every furrow ; 
And from each hill, let music shrill 

Give my fair Love good-morrow! 
Blackbird and thrush in every bush. 

Stare, linnet, and cock-sparrow! 
You pretty elves, amongst yourselves 

Sing my fair Love good-morrow ; 
To give my Love good-morrow 
Sing birds in every furrow I 

— T. Heywood, 



THE SHORTEST DAY 

wn (day soc 
met and yo 

Walter Savage Landor. 



'/j^HE day of brightest dawn (day soonest flown !) 
Is that when we have met and you have gone. 



j8 T.OVE IN ALL AGES 



TO CELIA 

Y^EINK to me only with thine eyes, 
"^^ And I will pledge with mine ; 
Or lea\ e a kiss but in the cup 

And I'll not look for wine. 
The thirst that from the soul doth rise 

Doth ask a drink divine ; 
But might I of Jove's nectar sup, 

I would not change for thine. 

I sent thee late a rosy wreath, 

Not so much honouring thee 
As giving it a hope that there 

It could not wither'd be ; 
But thou thereon didst only breathe 

And sent'st it back to me ; 
Since when it grows, and smells, I swear, 

Not of itself, but thee ! 

— Beti Jonson, 

XT'S good to be off with the old love. 
Before you are on with the new. 

—Old Song. 
»?« »T4 

*^)aINS of love be sweeter far 
^^ Than all other pleasures are. 

— Dryden, 

l?4 »?4 



D 



O torment is so bad as love. 

Burton's '* Ana TO MY of Melancholy.' 



L OVE IN ALL AGES , 19 



A REASON 

■ TOVE not me for comely grace, 
-^ ^ For my pleasing eye or face. 
Nor for any outward part ; 
No, nor for a constant heart ! 
For these may fail or turn to ill : 

So thou and I shall sever. 
Keep therefore a true woman's eye. 
And love me still,. but know not why! 
So hast thou the same reason still 

To dote upon me ever. 

— John Wilkye, 



A PARADOX 

^liiHO dares deny that this is true : 
^^^ The whole is more than all its parts ! 
A whole love than divided love. 

Or than half love from fifty hearts ! 

Yet who dares either this deny : 

The part is more than is the whole ! 
That treasures halved with one dear love 

Are more than doubled to the soul ! 

— Arthur Dillon. 

'/'^kHEN fly betimes, for only they 
^^ Conquer love that run away. 

— Thomas Carerc. 



20 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



FREEDOM AND LOVE 

»m;r OW delicious is the winning 
J«{ Of a kiss at Love's beginning. 
When two mutual hearts are sighing 
For the knot there's no untying! 

Yet remember, 'midst your wooing. 
Love has bliss, but Love has rueing; 
Other smiles may make you fickle, 
Tears for other charms may trickle. 

Love he comes, and Love he tarries, 
Just as fate or fancy carries ; 
Longest stays, when sorest chidden, 
Laughs and flies, when press'd and bidden. 

Bind the sea to slumber stilly, 
Bind its odour to the lily, 
Bind the aspen ne'er to quiver. 
Then bind Love to last forever. 

Love's a fire that needs renewal 

Of fresh beauty for its fuel : 

Love's wing moults when caged and captured, 

Only free, he soars enraptured. 

Can you keep the bee from ranging 
Or the ringdove's neck from changing ? 
No ! nor fetter 'd Love from dying 
In the knot there's no untying. 

— T. Campbell 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 21 



TO LUCASTA, ON GOING TO THE WARS 

'/"^^LL me not, Sweet, I am unkind, 
^^ That from the nunnery 
Of your chaste breast and quiet mind 
To war and arms I fly. 

True, a new mistress now I chase. 

The first foe in the field ; 
And with a stronger faith embrace 

A sword, a horse, a shield. 

Yet this inconstancy is such 

As you too shall adore; 
I could not love thee. Dear, so much. 

Loved I not Honour more. 

— Richard Lovelace. 



A DITTY 

#ljir true love hath my heart, and I have h:s, 
'**^ By just exchange one to the other given ; 
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss. 
There never was a better bargain driven : 
My true love hath my heart, and I have his. 

His heart in me keeps him and me in one. 
My heart in him his thought and senses guide ; 
He loves my heart, for once it was his own, 
I cherish his, because in me it bides ; 
My true love hath my heart, and I have his. 

— Sir Philip Sidney. 



22 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



"^1 HERE'S a bliss beyond all that the minstrel has told, 
^^ When two that are linked in one heavenly tie , 
With heart never changing, and brow never cold, 

Love on through all ills, and love on till they die ! 
One hour of a passion so sacred is worth 

Whole ages of heartless and wandering bliss ; 
And oh! if there be an Elysium on earth, 
It is this, it is this ! 

— Thomas Moore, 



SONG 

TT ALSE though she be to me and love, 

^-^ I'll ne'er pursue revenge; 
For still the charmer I approve, 

Though I deplore her change. 

In hours of bliss we oft have met, 
They could not always last ; 

And though the present I regret, 
I'm grateful for the past. 

— William Congreve. 



iTj OVE seeketh not itself to please, 
J^ Nor for itself hath any care. 
But for another gives its ease. 

And builds a Heaven in Hell's despair. 

— William Blake, 



.OVE IN ALL AGES 23 



''f\ RAY how comes love? 
-^^ It comes unsought, unsent. 
Pray, how goes love? 
That was not love that went. 



n 



OVE conquers ; and we must yield to love^ 



"l^OVE never fails to master what he finds, 

J A But works a different way in different minds, 

The Fool enlightens, and the Wise he blinds. 

— Dry den. 



€1 



ARTH holds no other like to thee. 
Or if it doth, in vain for me. 

— Byron. 



BUT now lead on ; 
In me is no delay ; with thee to go 
Is to stay here ; with thee here to stay 
Is to go hence unwilling ; thou to me 
Art all things under Heav'n, all places thou, 

— Milion. 

IQOVE is old, 

-' ^ Old as eternity, but not outworn; 

With each new being born, or to be born. 

— Byron. 



24 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



ALL FOR LOVE 

f^ TALK not to me of a name great in story ! 
^^ The days of our youth and the days of our glory ; 
And the myrtle and ivy of sweet two-and-twenty 
Are worth all your laurels, though ever so plenty. 

What are garlands and crowns to the brow that is wrinkled? 
'Tis but as a dead flower with May-dew besprinkled ; 
Then away with all such from the head that is hoary — 
What care 1 for the wreaths that can only give glory? 

Fame I if I e'er took delight in thy praises, 
'Twas less for the sake of thy high-sounding phrases, 
Than to see the bright eyes of the dear one discover, 
She thought that I was not unworthy to love her. 

There chiefly I sought thee, there only I found thee; 
Her glance was the best of the rays that surround thee; 
Wlien it sparkled o'er aught that was bright in my story, 

1 knew it was love, and I felt it was glory. 

— Byron. 

LOVE 

r\ peace Love tunes the shepherd's reed; 
In war he mounts the warrior's steed; 
In halls in gay attire is seen ; 
In hamlets dances on the green. 
Love rules the court, the camp, the grove. 
And men below, and saints above ; 
For Love is Heaven, and Heaven is Love. 

— Sir Walter Scott: 
The Lay of the Last Minstrel." 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 25 



I ARISE FROM DREAMS OF THEE 

I ARISE from dreams of thee 
In the first sweet sleep of night. 
When the winds are breathing low, 
And the stars are shining bright. 
I arise from dreams of thee, 
And a spirit in my feet 
Has led me — who knows how? — 
To thy chamber-window, sweet ' 

The wandering airs they faint 

On the dark, the silent stream; 

The champak odors fail 

Like sweet thoughts in a dream; 

The nightingale's complaint. 

It dies upon her heart. 

As I must die on thine, 

beloved as thou art ! 

O , lift me from the grass ! 

1 die, I faint, I fail ! 

Let thy love in kisses rain 
On my lips and my eyelids pale. 
My cheek is cold and white, alas ! 
My heart beats loud and fast : 
O press it close to thine again,* 
Where it will break at last! 

— Percy Bysshe Shelley. 

f^Pi there's nothing half so sweet in life 
^^ As Love's young dream. 

— Thomas Moore. 



26 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



JENNY KISSED ME 

JENNY kissed me when we met, 
Jumping from the chair she sat in; 
Time, you thief! who love to get 

Sweets into your list, put that in. 

Say I'm weary, say I'm sad; 

Say that health and wealth have missed me ; 
Say I'm growing old, but add — 
Jenny kissed me ! 

— Leigh Hunt. 

OH Love ! Young Love ! Bound in thy rosy band, 
Let sage or cynic prattle as he will. 
These hours, and these alone, redeem Life's years of ill. 

_ _ — Byron, 

fT\ YSTERIOUS Love, uncertain treasure. 
^J^ Hast thou more of pain or pleasure ? 
Endless torments dwell about thee : 
Yet who would live and live without thee ! 

— Joseph Addison. 



G 



t3 



ONE without hope e'er love the brightest fair; 
But Love can hope where Reason would despair. 
— Lord Ly Helton . 

O know, to esteem, to love — and then to part, 
Make up life's tale to many a feeling heart. 
— S. T. Coleridge. 



.OVE IN ALL AGES 27 



TRUE LOVE 

*Wr'f ET me not to the marriage of ^■rue minds 
J U^ Admit impediments. Love is not love 
WTiich alters when it alteration finds, 
Or bends with the remover to remove. 
O, no ! It is an ever-fixed mark 
That looks on tempests and is never shaken ; 
It is the star to every wandering bark, 
Whose worth's unknown, although his height 

be taken. 
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and 

cheeks 
Within his bending sickle's compass come ; 
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, 
But bears it out even to the edge of doom. 

If this be error and upon me proved, 

I never writ, nor no man ever loved. 

— Shakespeare. 



iry OVE is a smoke, raised with the fume of sighs; 
J ^ Being purg'd, a fire sparkling m lovers' eyes; 
Being vex'd, a sea nourish'd with lovers' tears: 
What is it else ? a madness most discreet, 
A choking gall and a preserving sweet. 

— Shakespeare: " Romeo and Juliet." 



D 



EN have died from time to time and worms have 
eaten them, but not for love. 

— Shakespf-are : "As You Like It." 



28 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



LOVE LIKE A SHADOW 

1 TOVE like a shadow flies 
' ^ When substance love pursues ; 
Pursuing that that flies, 

And flying what pursues. 

_ _ — Shakespeare. 

'PJHESE violent delights have violent ends, 
^■^ And in their triumph die ; like fire and powder 
Which as they kiss consume ; the sweetest honey 
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness, 
And in the taste confounds the appetite : 
Therefore, love moderately ; long love doth so ; 
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow. 

— Shakespeare: *' Romeo and Juliet." 



TyOVE'S heralds should be thoughts, 

•*^ Which ten times faster glide than the sun's 

beams, 
Driving back shadows over louring hills : 
Therefore do nimble-pinion'd doves draw love, 
And therefore hath the wind-swift Cupid wings. 
— Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet." 



jTyO^^E is merely a madness ; and, I tell you, deserves as 
** ^ well a dark house and a whip as madmen do : and 
the reason why they are not so punished and cured is, 
that the lunacy is so ordinary that the whippers are in 
love too. — Shakespeare: As You Like It." 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 29 



THE BONNIE WEE THING 

BONNIE wee thing, cannie wee thing, 
Lovely wee thing, wast thou mine, 
I wad wear thee in my bosom, 

Lest my jewel I should tine. 

Wishfully I look and languish 

In that bonnie face o' thine ; 

And my heart it 'stounds wi' anguish, 
Lest my wee thing be na mine. 

Wit, and grace, and love, and beauty. 

In ae constellation shine ; 
To adore thee is my duty. 

Goddess o' this soul of mine. 

— Robert Bums, 

MY JEAN 

'^IHOUGH cruel fate should bid us part, 
^^ Far as the Pole and Line, 
Her dear idea round my heart 

Should tenderly entwine. 
Though mountains rise, and deserts howl, 

And oceans roar between ; 
Yet, dearer than my deathless soul, 

I still would love my Jean. 

— Robert Burns, 



B 



HE has nae faut (if sic ye ca't), 
Except her love for me. 

— Robert Burns, 



30 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



OF A' THE AIRTS THE WIND CAN BLAW 

ff^jF a' the airts the wind can blaw, 

I dearly love the West, 
For there the bonnie lassie lives, 

The lassie I lo'e best: 
There wild woods grow and rivers row, 

And mony a hill between ; 
But day and ni<5ht my fancy's flight 

Is ever wi' my Jean. 

I see her in the dewy flowers, 

I see her sweet and fair ; 
I hear her in the tunefu' birds, 

I hear her charm the air: 
There's not a bonnie flower that springs 

By fountain, shaw, or green. 
There's not a bonnie bird that sings. 

But minds me o' my Jean. 

— Robert Burns, 



o 



HAPPY love! — where love like this is found! 
O heartfelt raptures ! — bliss beyond compare ! 

— Robert Burns. 
»T4 ^ 



^VIHILE day and night can bring delight, 
^^ Or Nature aught of pleasure give ; 
While joys above my mind can move — 
For thee, and thee alone, I live! 

— Robert Bums. 



.OVE IN ALL AGES 31 



YiY night, by day, a-field, at hame, 
"^^ The thoughts o' thee my breast inflame. 
And aye I muse and sing- thy name, 
I only live to love thee. 

Though I were doomed to wander on, 
Beyond the sea, beyond the sun. 
Till my last weary sand was run, 

Till then, and then I love thee. 

— Robert Bums, 



TFvAD we never loved so kindly, 
•*^ Had we never loved so blindly. 
Never met or never parted, 
We had ne'er been broken-hearted. 

— Robert Bums. 

^^11' the sleet in my hair, I'd gang ten miles 

^^^ and mair, 

For a word o' that sweet lip o' thine, o' thine, 
For ae glance o' thy dark e'e divine. 

— Scotch Song. 



'/^IS sweeter for thee despairing 
^■^ Than aught in the world beside. 

— Robert Burns. 



S2 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



A RED, RED ROSE 

OH, my luve's like a red, red rose, 
That's newly sprung in June: 
Oh, my luve's like the melodie 

That's sweetly played in tune. 

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass. 

So deep in luve am I ; 
And I will luve thee still, my dear, 

Till a' the seas gang dry. 

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear, 
And the rocks melt in the sun. 

And I will luve thee still, my dear. 
While the sands o' life shall run. 

And fare thee weel, my only luve ! 

And fare thee weel awhile ! 
And I will come again^ my luve. 

Though it were ten thousand mile. 

— Robert Bums, 



'^lO see her is to love her, 
Vi^ And love but her forever; 
For nature made her what she is. 
And ne'er made sic anither! 

— Robert Bums* 



IN ALL AGES gg 



THE GREAT ADVENTURER 

^^VER the mountains 
^^ And over the waves, 
Under the fountains 
And under the graves ; 
Under floods that are deepest, 
Which Neptune obey ; 
Over rocks that are steepest 
Love will find out the way. 

Where there is no place 

For the glow-womi to lie ; 

Where there is no space 

For receipt of a fly ; 

Where the midge dares not venture 

Lest herself fast she lay ; 

If Love come, he will enter 

And soon find out his way. 

You may train the eagle 
To stoop to your fist ; 
Or you may inveigle 
The phcenix of the East ; 
The lioness, ye may move her 
To give o'er her prey ; 
But you'll ne'er stop a lover; 
He will find out his way. 

— Anon, 

"J^HE first sigh of love is the last 

^^ of wisdom. —Antoine Bret. 



34 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



SONG 

TyOVE, I follow thee, follow thee, 
-'^ Wipe thine eyes and thou shalt see : 
. Sorrow makes thee blind to me. 

I am with thee, blessing, blest; 
Let thy doubts be laid to rest : 
Rise, and take me to thy breast I 

In thy bliss my steps behold : 
Stretch thine arms and bliss enfold : 
*Tis thy sorrow makes me cold. 

Life is good, and life is fair. 
Love awaits thee everywhere : 
Love! is Love's immortal prayer. 

Live for love, and thou shalt be, 
Loving others, true to me ; 
Love, I follow, follow thee ! 

— Bayard Taylor, 
^ 1^ 

A PLEASANT SONG 

'^CHE nightingale has a lyre of gold, 
^^ The lark's is a clarion call, 
And the blackbird plays but a boxwood flute, 
But I love him best of all. 

For his song is all of the joy of life, 

And we, in the mad spring weather. 

We two have listened till he sang 
Our hearts and lips together. 

— William Ernest Henley, 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 35 



FIRST, SECOND, THIRD 

TTJIRST time he kissed me, he but only kissed 
#*^ The fingers of this hand wherewith I write, 
And ever since it grew more clean and white. 
Slow to world-greetings, . . . quick with its *'Ohlist!" . . 
When the angels speak. A ring of Amethyst 
I could not wear here plainer to my sight 
Than that first kiss. The second passed in height 
The first, and sought the forehead, and half missed, 
Half falling on the hair, O beyond meed ! 
That was the chrism of Love, which Love's own crown, 
^^^*^h sanctifying sweetness did precede, 
e third upon my lips was folded down 
1 perfect, purple state ! since when, indeed, 
JL have been proud, and said, "My Love, my own." 

— Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 

iTjOVE is the only good in the world, 
-*-^ Henceforth be loved as heart can love, 
Or brain devise, or hand approve. 

— Robert Browning. 

IF I could have my dearest wish fulfilled. 
And take my choice of all earth's treasures too. 
And ask from Heaven whatsoe'er I willed, 
I'd ask for you. 

— Song. 



36 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



THE WAYS OF LOVE 

'V'JOW do I love thee ? Let me count the ways. 

•**€ I love thee to the depth and breadth and height 

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight 

For the ends of Being and Ideal Grace. 

I love thee to the level of every day's 

Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight. 

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; 

I love thee purely, as men turn from Praise; 

I love thee with the passion put to use 

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith; 

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose 

With my lost saints, — I love thee with the breath, 

Smiles, tears, of all my life! — and, if God choose, 

I shall but love thee better after death. 

— Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 



jQpNCE we parted y ester eve, 
h^ I do love thee. Love, believe, 
Twelve times dearer, twelve hours longer. 
One dream deeper, one night stronger. 
One sun surer, — thus much more 
Than I loved thee. Love, before. 

— Owen Meredith, 



I 



1^ 1^ 

LET the world go, and take love ! 

— Robert Browning. 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 



*'MAUD" 

QUEEN rose of the rosebud garden of girls. 
Come hither, the dances are done, 
In gloss of satin and glimmer of pearls. 

Queen lily and rose in one ; 
Shine out, little head, sunning over with curls. 
To the flowers, and be their sun. 

There has fallen a splendid tear 

From the passion-flower at the gate. 
She is coming, my dove, my dear ; 

She is coming, my life, my fate ; 
The red rose cries: *'She is near, she is near;" 

And the white rose weeps: **She is late;" 
The larkspur listens : * * I hear, I hear ; ' ' 

And the lily whispers: '*I wait." 

She is coming, my own, my sweet; 

Were it ever so airy a tread, 
My heart would hear her and beat, 

Were it earth in an earthy bed ; 
My dust would hear her and beat, 

Had I lain for a century dead ; 
Would start and tremble under her feet. 

And blossom in purple and red. 

— Alfred Tennyson. 



Q 



»?4 1% 

OT to be with you, not to see your face, 
Alas for me then, my good days are done. 
— Alfred Tennyson. 



38 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



SONG 

IN Love, if Love be Love, if Love be ours. 
Faith and unfaith can ne'er be equal powers: 
Unfaith in aught is want of faith in all. 

It is the little rift within the lute 

That by and by will make the music mute, 

And ever widening slowly silence all. 

The little rift within the lover's lute. 
Or little pitted speck in garnered fruit 
That, rotting inward, slowly moulders all. 

It is not worth the keeping, — let it go: 
But shall it? Answer, darling; answer. No. 
And trust me not at all, or all in all. 

— Alfred Tennyson, 



I HOLD it true, whatever befall; 
I feel it when I sorrow most; 
'Tis better to have loved and lost 
Than never to have loved at all. 

— Alfred Tennyson, 

I CANNOT understand; I love. 
— Alfred Tennyson, 

OVE has power to give in a moment what toil can 
scarcely reach in an age. — Goethe, 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 39 



THE LETTER 

'T^HE letter which you wrote me 
^^ Disturbs me not a whit; 
You'll love no more, you tell me — 
But there's too much of it. 

Twelve pages, fine and neatly, — 

A little manuscript; 
One writes not so completely 

When love's true knot is slipped. 

— Heinrich Heine. 
(Translation by Merle St. Croix Wright.) 

THE DIFFICULTY 

^J BOUT my Darling's lovely eyes 
'^-^ I've made no end of verses; 
About her precious little mouth. 

Songs, which each voice rehearses; 
About my Darling's little cheek, 

I wrote a splendid sonnet; 
And, — if she only had a heart, 

I'd write an ode upon it. 

— Heinrich Heine. 
(Translation by James Freeman Clarke.) 

lift »T4 

HAVE enjoyed the happiness of this world — I have 
lived and have loved. — Schiller. 



40 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



A FLOW'RET 

'Jjr FLOW'RET thou resemblest, 
4^-*» So pure and fair and blest; 
But when I view thee, sorrow 

Straight creepeth to my breast. 

I feel as though inspired 

My hands on thy head to lay, 

And pray that God may keep thee 
So blest, fair, pure, for aye. 

_ _ — Heine* 

fff4 lift 

MINE OWN 

'^^HE rose and the lily, the dove and the ^un, 
^^ I loved them all dearly once, every one; 
I love them no longer, I love now alone 

The small one, the neat one, the pure one, 
mine own. 
Yes, she herself, the fount of all love. 

Is the rose and the lily, the sun and the dove. 
« „ — Heine. 

ROSES IN THE SNOW 

"Tpi HOUGH outside snow-piles are forming, 
^^ Though 'tis hailing, though 'tis storming. 
Rattling 'gainst the window-pane, 
Nevermore will I complain. 
For within my breast I bear 
Spring-joys and love's image fair. 

— Heine, 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 41 



YOUTH'S ANTIPHONY 

I LOVE you, sweet: how can you ever learn 
How much I love you?" **You I love even so, 
And so I learn it." ** Sweet, you cannot know 
How fair you are." If fair enough to earn 
Your love, so much is all my love's concern." 

My love grows hourly, sweet. ' ' Mine too doth grow, 
Yet love seemed full so many hours ago!" 
Thus lovers speak, till kisses claim their turn. 
Ah ! happy they to whom such words as these 
In youth have served for speech the whole day long, 
Hour after hour, remote from the world's throng. 
Work, contest, fame, all life's confederate pleas, — 
What while love breathed in sighs and silences 
Through two blent souls one rapturous undersong. 

— Dante Gabriel Roseiti: 

'*The House of Life." 

SPRING 

m^ ^ HEN buds of palm do burst and spread 
^A/ Their downy feathers in the lane. 
And orchard blossoms, white and red 

Breathe Spring delight and Autumn gain ; 
And the skylark shakes his wings in the rain ; 

Oh, then is the season to look for a bride ! 

Choose her warily, woo her unseen; 
For the choicest maids are those that hide 

Like dewy violets under the green. 

— George Meredith, 



42 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



WHO KNOW NOT LOVE 

HH, sad are they who know not love, 
But, far from passions, tears and smiles, 
Drift down a moonless sea, beyond 
The silvery coasts of fairy isles. 

And sadder they whose longing lips 
Kiss empty air, and never touch 
The dear warm mouth of those they love — 
Waiting, wasting, suffering much. 

But clear as amber, fine as musk 
Is life to those who, pilgrim wise. 
Move hand in hand from dawn to dusk, 
Each morning nearer Paradise. 

Oh, not for them shall angels pray ! 
They stand in everlasting light. 
They walk in Allah's smile by day. 
And nestle in his heart by night. 

— Thomas Bailey Aldrich, 

I THINK we had the chief of all Love's joys 
Only in knowing that we loved each other, 
— George Eliot, 

»?4 ^A 



Vi 



OTHING is better, I well know, 
Than love. 

— Algernon Charles Swinburne, 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 43 



THE RELIGION OF LOVE 

00 thou but love me, dear, with thy whole heart 
What care I for the rest, for good or ill ? 
What for the peace of soul good deeds impart, 
What for the tears unholy dreams distil ? 
These cannot make my joy, nor shall they kill. 
Thou only perfect peace and virtue art 
And holiness for me and strength and will — 
So thou but love me with a perfect heart. 
I ask thee now no longer to be wise; 
No longer to be good, but loving me. 
I ask thee nothing now but only this. 
Henceforth my Bible, dear, shall be thine eyes. 
My beads thy lips, my prayers thy constancy. 
My heaven thine arms, eternity thy kiss. 

— Wilfrid Scawen Blunt: 
**The Love Sonnets of Proteus" 

'^lALK not of wasted affection — affection never was 
^-^ wasted ; 

If it enrich not the heart of another, its waters, 

returning 
Back to their springs, like the rain, shall fill them full of 

refreshment ; 
That which the fountain sends forth returns again to the 

fountain. 

— Henry W. Longfellow: 
'* Evangeline. " 



4,4 LOVE IN ALL AGES 

THE SEA HATH ITS PEARLS 

{From the German of Heinrich Heine), 

'^JHE sea hath its pearls, 
Vi^ The heaven hath its stars; 
But my heart, my heart. 

My heart hath its love. 

Great are the sea and the heaven ; 

Yet greater is my heart, 
And fairer than pearls and stars 

Flashes and beams my love. 

Thou little, youthful maiden, 

Come unto my great heart ; 

My heart, and the sea, and the Heaven 
Are melting away with love ! 

— Henry W. Longfellow, 



SILENT LOVE 

{From the German). 

%Wf HO love would seek, 
\A/ Let him love evermore 
And seldom speak : 

For in love's domain 
Silence must reign ; 
Or it brings the heart 
Smart 

And pain. 

— Henry W, Longfellow, 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 45 



AGRO-DOLCE 

^VNE kiss from all others prevents me, 
^^ And sets all my pulses astir, 
And burns on my lips and torments me : 
'Tis the kiss I fain would give her. 

One kiss for all others requites me, 

Although it is never to be, 
And sweetens my dreams and invites me : 

'Tis the kiss that she dare not give me. 
— James Russell Lowell. 



^"VH, rank is good, and gold is fair, 
^^ And high and low mate ill; 
But Love has never known a law 
Beyond its own sweet will ! 

— John Greenleaf Whittier. 

flrOMETHING the heart must have to cherish, 
^^ Must love and joy and sorrow learn. 
Something with passion clasp, or perish. 
And in itself to ashes burn. 

— Henry Wadswortk Longfellow, 

%lliriERE we love is home, 

^^^ Home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts, 
though o'er us shines the jasper-lighted dome: — 
The chain may lengthen but it never parts ! 
'—Oliver Wendell Holmes. 



46 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



TELEPATHY 

^j ND how could you dream of meeting?" 
-^-*» Nay, how can you ask me, sweet? 
All day my pulse had been beating 
The tune of your coming feet. 

And as nearer and ever nearer 

I felt the throb of your tread. 

To be in the world grew dearer, 

And my blood ran rosier red. 

Love called, and I could not 'inger. 
But sought the forbidden tryst, 

As music follows the finger 

Of the dreaming lutanist. 

And though you had said it and said it, 
*We must not be happy to-day," 
Was I not wiser to credit 

The fire in my feet than your nay? 

— James Russell Lowell, 



/^ LADY, there be many things 
^^ That seem right fair, below, above ; 
But sure not one among them all 
Is half so sweet as love. 

— Oliver Wendell Holmes* 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 47 



LOVE'S LIGHT 

f^OVE'S light is strange to you? Ah, me! 
-*^ Your heart is an unquickened seed. 
And whatso'er your fortunes be, 

I tell you, you are poor indeed. 

What toucheth it, it maketh bright, 

Yet loseth nothing, like the sun. 

Within whose great and gracious light 

A thousand dew-drops shine as one. 

— Alice Cary. 

I r IFE may to you bring every good 
■^^ Which from a Father's hand can fall ; 
But if true lips have said to me, 

I love you," I have known it all! 

— Phoehe Cary. 

'Y\ APPY, happier far than thou 
**"% With the laurel on thy brow. 
She that makes the humblest hearth 
Lovely but to one on earth. 

— Felicia Dorothea Hemans. 



k J EARN that to love is the one way to know 

'■^ Or God or man : it is not love received 

That maketh man to know the inner life 

Of them that love him ; his own love bestowed 

Shall do it. x r t 

— Jean Ingelow. 



48 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



EROS 

'yXHE sense of the world is short, — 
^^ Long and various the report, — 

To love and be beloved ; 
Men and gods have not outlearned it ; 
And, how oft soe'er they've turned it, 

'Tis not to be improved. 

— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 



CHORUS OF BIRDS 

gVERY flutter of the wing, 
^*^ Every note of song we sing, 
Every murmer, every tone. 
Is of love, and love alone. 

— Henry Wadsworth Longjellow, 



I^^HE light of love shines over all ; 
^^ Of love, that says not mine and thine, 
But ours, for ours is thine and mine. 

— Henry Wadsworth IjongfelUyw, 



I'M sorry that I spelt the word, 
I hate to go above you. 
Because " — the brown eyes lower fell — 
Because, you see, I love you!" 

— John Greenleaf Whittier. 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 49 



THE NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES 

'^IHE night has a thousand eyes, 
^^ And the day but one ; 
Yet the light of the bright world dies 
With the dying sun. 

The mind has a thousand eyes, 

And the heart but one ; 
Yet the light of a whole life dies 

When love is done. 

— F, W. Bourdillion* 

[REMEMBER the only wise thing I ever did, 
The only good, was to love thee. 

— Philip James Bailey. 



GOD measures souls by their capacity 
For entertaining his best angel, Love. 
Who loveth most is nearest kin to God, 
Who is all love or nothing. 

— Ella Wheeler Wilcox. 



y Tor they alone have need of sorrow, 
•*~^ And they alone are poor. 
For whom, in life. Love's holy angel 
Hath opened not the door. 

— Mary Clemmer. 



50 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



WAITING 

jQERENE, I fold my hands and wait, 
F^ Nor care for wind, or tide, or sea ; 
I rave no more 'gainst time or fate, 

For lo ! my own shall come to me. 

I stay my haste, I make delays. 

For what avails this eager pace? 

I stand amid the eternal ways, 

And what is mine shall know my face. 

Asleep, awake, by night or day. 

The friends I seek are seeking me ; 

No wind can drive my bark astray. 
Nor change the tide of destiny. 

What matter if I stand alone? 

I wait with joy the coming years ; 
My heart shall reap where it hath sown, 

And garner up its fruits of tears. 

The waters know their own, and draw 

The brook that springs in yonder heights. 

So flows the good with equal law 

Unto the soul of pure delights. 

The stars come nightly to the sky ; 

The tidal wave unto the sea ; 
Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high, 

Can keep my own away from me. 

— John Burroughs, 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 51 



UNDER THE ROSE 

QllE wears a rose in her hair, 
h^ At the twihght's dreamy close; 
Her face is fair, how fair 
Under the rose ! 

I steal like a shadow there, 

As she sits in rapt repose, 
And whisper my loving prayer 

Under the rose ! 

She takes the rose from her hair. 

And her color comes and goes ; 

And I — a lover will dare 
Under the rose ! 

— Richard Henry Stoddard. 



-I^YERH APS it will all come right at last ; 
^^ It may be, when all is done. 
We shall be together in some good world. 
Where to wish and to have are one. 

— Richard Henry Stoddard, 



'T^^ERE is a glory in tree and blossom, 
^-^ A trill in the wild bird's tone, 
A balm in the summer breezes. 
That Love revealeth, alone. 

— Benjamin S, Parker. 



52 ^^^ LOVE IN ALL AGES 

WHERE SHALL WE LAND? 

"Where shall we land you, Sweet." — Swinburne. 

"JJTLL listlessly we float 
^-** Out seaward in a boat 

That beareth Love. 
Our sails of purest snow 
Bend to the blue below 

And to the blue above. 
Where shall we land? 

We drift upon a tide 
Shoreless on every side. 

Save where the eye 
Of Fancy sweeps far lands 
Shelved slopingly with sands 

Of gold and porphyry. 

Where shall we land? 

The fairy isles we see, 
Loom up so mistily — 

So vaguely fair, 
We do not care to break 
Fresh bubbles in our wake 

To bend our course for there. 
Where shall we land ? 

The warm winds of the deep 
Have lulled our sails to sleep, 

And so we glide 
Careless of wave or wind. 
Or change of any kind. 

Or turn of tide. 

Where shall we land? 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 53 



We droop our dreamy eyes 
Where our reflection lies 

Steeped in the sea, 
And, in an endless fit 
Of languor, smile on it 

And its sweet mimicry. 
Where shall we land ? 

Where shall we land?" God's grace! 
I know not any place 
So fair as this — 
Swung here between the blue 
Of sea and sky, with you 
To ask me, with a kiss, 

Where shall we land?" 

— James Whitcomb Riley. 

From Riley "Love Lyric t,'^ Copyright, 1905. 
Used by special permisiion of the publishers. 
The Bobls-Merrill Company, 

Ilk ^< 

TO A GIRL 

'piHOU art so very sweet and fair, 
^^ With such a heaven in thine eyes, 
It almost seems an overcare 

To ask thee to be good or wise. 

As if a little bird were blam*d 

Because its song unthinking flows ; 

As if a rose should be asham'd 

Of being nothing but a rose. 

— Anon. 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 



BE MY SWEETHEART 

g[*WEETHEART, be my sweetheart 
f^"^ When birds are on the wing, 
When bee and bud and babbling flood 

Bespeak the birth of spring, 
Come, sweetheart, be my sweetheart 

And wear this posy-ring ! 

Sweetheart, be my sweetheart 
In the mellow golden glow 

Of earth aflush with the gracious blush 
Which the ripening fields foreshow; 

Dear sweetheart, be my sw^eetheart, 
As into the noon we go ! 

Sweetheart, be my sweetheart 

When falls the bounteous year, 
When fruit and wine of tree and vine 

Give us their harvest cheer; 
Oh, sweetheart, be my sweetheart, 

For winter it draweth near. 

Sweetheart, be my sweetheart 

When the year is white and old, 

When the fire of youth is spent, forsooth, 
And the hand of age is cold ; 

Yet, sweetheart, be my sweetheart 
Till the year of our love be told ! 



From "Sow^x and Other Verses.^^ 
Copyrighted 1896 by Julia Sutherland Field. 
Publithed by Charles Scribntr's Sons. 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 55 



DEAR HEART OF LOVE 

Y^ EAR heart of Love ! I seem 
''*^ As one who in a trance discerns 

The boon for which his spirit yearns, 
And from his rapturous dream 
Wakes to a fresher hfe and happiness supreme. 

My dearest ! If the might 

And tenderness of manly trust 
Can bless thy life, thy lover must 

In darkness and in light 

Forever turn to thee, thy goodness to 
requite. 

Take all I have, my sweet ! 

Not diamonds nor worldly meed, 
But what the heart's emotions need; 

A love as infinite. 
As the pure heavens that bend our happy 

hearts to greet. 

— George F. Butler, 

JL| LAS, how easily things go wrong ! 
^-"^ A sigh too much or a kiss too long; 
There comes a mist and blinding rain, 
And things are never the same again. 



i^ 1^ 



n 



IS loves were like most other loves, 
A little glow, a little shiver. 

— Praed, 



56 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



A LOVER'S ENVY 

I ENVY every flower that blows 
Beside the pathway where she goes. 
And every bird that sings to her, 
And every breeze that brings to her 
The fragrance of the rose. 

I envy every poet's rhyme 

That moves her heart at eventime, 

And every tree that wears for her 
Its brightest bloom, and bears for her 
The fruitage of its prime. 

I envy every Southern night 

That paves her path with moonbeams white. 
And silvers all the leaves for her, 
And in their shadow weaves for her 
A dream of dear delight. 

I envy none whose love requires 
Of her a gift, a task that tires : 

I only long to live to her, 

I only ask to give to her 

All that her heart desires. 

Courtesy of the Century Company. Henry Vufl Dykc, 



n 



ffh ^ 



OVE comes unseen — we only see it go, 
•~- Austin JDohson, 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 57 



RAISON D'ETRE 

GOD made me for you. 
He lit the frail lamp of my soul 
And turned it low 
Till it should answer to your touch, 

And leap and glow 
Deathless and true. 

God made me for you. 

He hid the eternal fire in me till you 

Came, 
To fan the smoldering embers into leaping 

Flame, 
Until I knew. 

God made me for you. 

My soul in life's dark night, a lamp 

To light the way. 
Heart's fire to try your might and glory 

In its sway, 
Till life is through. 

— Margaret Allen Carolyn. 

{From "Smart Stt,") 

t /OVE'S but a dream — keep a-dreamin', 
-^**» Life's but a song — why not sing.'* 
All's what it seems — but the seemin' 
You and you only can bring. 

— L. PT. 



58 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



WHEN YOU GO AWAY 

I SOMETIMES think that, when you go away. 
Though I am blinded by my love and fear. 
So very much are you the world to me 

That I shall ever, somehow, keep you near. 

Though miles dissever and though years divide. 

My questing heart shall find you everywhere : 

In every night the starlight of your eyes. 

In every dawn the sunshine of your hair. 

As all things that are beautiful and good 

Must ever be a vital part of you. 
So all good things and beautiful must hold 

Your memory made mercifully true. 

For them that love there is nor time nor space ; 

And I shall see, in Love's lore, learned and wise. 
In every dawn the sunshine of your hair. 

In every night the starlight of your eyes. 

— Reginald Wright Kaifffhian. 

iFrom "Smart Set.") 

iffe »?« 

AWAKENING 

^11 1 HO defies love to spring 
^^^ Within a heart that sleeps, 

A stern and frozen thing, 
Hath soon forgot how slight 
A marvel 'tis for trees 
To blossom in a night 

— Aldis Dunhar, 

{From "Smart Set."}] 



IN ALL AGES 59 



A LITTLE FLOWER 

"ZT LITTLE flower 
^^-*» For a little maid. 

In a garden grew. 
The flower was shy 
And was half afraid, 

Like you. 

It shrank away 

From a stranger's gaze, 

To the glist'ning dew; 
And all the while 
It was waiting, dear. 

For you. 

I plucked that flower 
With its modest ways, 

For 3. maid I knew ; 
And though 'twas shy, 
It went unafraid, 

To you. 

For there is naught 

In the whole wide world — 

And I swear 'tis true — 
I love so well 
As that little flower. 

And you. 



— Lois Willoughhy. 



60 LOVE IN ALL AGES 



A LITTLE WHILE 

''^IlWAS in the mellow autumn, 
^^ A haze was on the hill, 
That perfect day I walked with her 

And all my heart a-thrill. 
Through lane and wood and meadow 

We strayed a happy mile. 
And all the gold my life could hold 

Was in that little while. 

Her beauty made me silent. 

My tongue refused to speak, 
I saw the love-light in her eye. 

The blush that warmed her cheek. 
My heart too faint to follow 

The ways of maids and men, 
I let her pass unwooed, alas ! 

Till we should meet again. 

And never comes the autumn 

With haze upon the hill 
But in a dream I walk with her 

And all my heart a-thrill. 
Through lane and wood and meadow 

We stray a happy mile. 
And all the gold my life can hold 

Is in that little while. 

— Nia:o}i Waterman. 

{From "Smart S««.") 
l!?4 l?4 







HE hath no skill in living — but to love. 
— Stephe7i Phillips : * ' Ulysses . ' ' 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 61 



HEART OF MY HEART 

*1^ERE where the season turns the land to gold, 
-*-^ Among the fields our feet have known of old,- 
When we were children who would laugh and run, 
Glad little pla^^mates of the wind and sun, — 
Before came toil and care and years went ill 
And one forgot and one remembered still ; 
Heart of my heart, among the old fields here, 
Give me your hands and let me draw you near, 
Heart of my heart. 

Stars are not truer than your soul is true ; 
What need I more of Heaven then than you ? 
Flowers are not sweeter than your face is sweet — 
What need I more to make my world complete ? 
O woman nature, love that still endures. 
What strength hath ours that is not born of yours ? 
Heart of my heart, to you, whatever come, 
To you the lead, whose love hath led me home, 
Heart of my heart. 

— Madison Cawein. 



*^\DT from the whole wide world I choose thee,- 
*^^ Sweetheart, light of the land and the sea ! 
The wide, wide world could not enclose thee. 
For thou art the whole wide world to me. 

— Richard Watson Gilder. 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 



ALL FOR LOVE 

*J""JOVE laid down his bow and quiver, 
-■^ Thinking he would rest a while ; 
All the world began to shiver, 

All the world forgot to smile. 

All the roses quickly faded, 

All the music died away ; 
All the world at once grew jaded, 

Hope surrendered to dismay. 

Every soldier, doubting, halted, 
War was glorious no more ; 

Heroes who had been exalted 

Scorned the medals which they wore, 

Men no longer sighed for riches. 

Fame lost all the charms it had; 

Stupid toilers in the ditches 

Dropped their shovels and were sad. 

Love took up his bow and quiver ; 

Blossoms bloomed upon the plain ; 
Proud swans floated on the river, 

War was glorious again. 

—S, E. Riser, 



a^ 



THINKS no leaf would ever bud in spring, 
But for the lover's lips that kiss, the 
poets' lips that sing. 



LOVE IN A LL AGES 63 

BALLADE UPON AVOWALS 

*''7^IS simple for the absent bard 
^-^ In rippling rhyme his love to write, 
Yet bold Othello, battle-scarred, 

Was as the meanest trembling wight; 

In telling it he faltered quite 
And could not find expressions fit 

To tell of all his passion's height — 
Great men and low have stammered it. 
The soldier, bearded like a pard, 

The courtier with his manner light, 
And even stately Abelard 

In solemn cowl and robe bedight, 

Have gone by turns both red and white. 
In silence, too, were fain to sit 

As men in sudden, helpless fright — 
Great men and low have stammered it. 
Their halting words have somehow marred 

Their gifts of jewels rare and bright, 
And broidered stuffs, and precious nard, 

To give their lady-loves delight. 

E'en Romeo, that scented night 
Which by the lantern-stars was lit 

Grew dumb when Juliet met his sight — 
Great men and low have stammered it. 

L'ENVOI 

Princess, these lines that I indite 

Prove that I, too, am dull of wit; 

My words are colorless and trite — 

Great men and low have stammered it. 
— Wilbur D. Neshit. 



64 



LOVE IN ALL AGES 



SINCE YESTERDAY 

"W'D^H AT a dismal world it seemed ; 
^a/ How its noises smote my ears ! 
Not a smile of gladness gleamed 

O'er the boundless waste of tears. 
Selfishness was everywhere, 

Greed had crowded love away ; 
Every face was marred by care : 

Ah, but that was yesterday. 

There is glory on the hills. 

Never was the sky so blue ; 
Songs are sung by all the rills, 

Songs of gladness and of you ! 
All the world is full of glee. 

All its woes are swept away : 
You, my love, have come to me. 

Changing all since yesterday. 

L'ENVOI 
** 'Tis Love that makes the world go round." 

ITTOVE-LIT, the stars sing through the years, 
J-^ And land and sea, and life and death, 
And sighs and songs, and smiles and tears 
Were given love in life's first breath. 

But neither world, nor stars, nor time. 

Nor flowered fields, nor desert place, 

Have part in that enchanted clime 

Of his who sees love ^ Ifer^ce. 








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WERT 
BOOKBINDING 

Crantville Pa 
Nov Dec 1988 



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